Meaning of Back To Life (However Do You Want Me)

by Soul II Soul · 2024

The song “Back To Life (However Do You Want Me)” by Soul II Soul is about returning to reality in a relationship, seeking clarity and direction from a partner, and expressing a willingness to adapt and be what the other person needs in order to move forward together.

This song has been Shazamed over 3,198,590 times. As of this writing, Back To Life (However Do You Want Me) is ranked 151

‘Back To Life (However Do You Want Me)’ by Soul II Soul is a famous song from the late 1980s that talks about coming back to reality and figuring out what someone wants from you. We’re going to break down what the lyrics really mean and how the music makes us feel. ⬇️

This song wraps us in a smooth, soulful groove, pulling us between dreamy nostalgia and the urgency of returning to real life. The mood is both uplifting and contemplative, as if we’re waking up from a beautiful dream and trying to make sense of what comes next.

❤️ The chorus—those swirling, repetitive lines, “How ever do you want me? How ever do you need me?”—is where the heartache, yearning, and vulnerability spill out. It’s a question wrapped in a plea, like someone holding out their hands and asking, desperately, “Tell me who to be for you.” We hear both confidence and uncertainty, the desire to please clashing with the need for clarity—don’t we all sometimes just want to know how we fit in someone else’s world?

In the verses, the singer repeatedly returns “back to life, back to reality,” almost like a mantra for self-grounding after drifting in fantasy. Lines like “Show me how, decide what you want from me” and “I’ll leave it in your hands until you’re ready” reveal a push-pull dynamic, where one person is waiting—impatiently, hopefully—for the other to make a move. There’s a tug-of-war between wanting direction and needing to move on, all painted over a backdrop of soulful beats and understated optimism.

The bridge adds another layer: “Need a change, a positive change / Look, it’s my writing on the wall.” Here, the singer acknowledges a breaking point, craving transformation and signaling that time is running out for indecision—there’s only so long you can wait before you have to move forward, with or without an answer.

At its core, Soul II Soul’s “Back To Life (However Do You Want Me)” captures the bittersweet moment when we step out of our dreams and ask—sometimes bravely, sometimes anxiously—what it takes to truly belong in someone else’s reality.

Writer(s) of Back To Life (However Do You Want Me):